Really cool thing happening at a hospital in Brooklyn. Hopsital administrators across this under-insured country, take note! [Big thanks to Thomas Cott's You've Cott Mail for flagging Daniel Grant's Huff post.]
For years, Brooklyn, New York artist Susan Tang enjoyed a good income as a children's book illustrator, painting the covers for the long-running Babysitters Club: Little Sister series, as well as other young-adult series, but her goal was to be a fine artist, painting murals. And, in 2001, she took the leap. "I'm eking out a living," she said. "It's been an adventure and a journey, but a precarious one." Part of what has made this career move so precarious is the loss of her health insurance, for which she no longer has the extra income to pay. She is not alone. According to a variety of surveys conducted over the past 20 years, between 15 and 30 percent of all (fine and performing) artists have no health insurance, in part because of the high cost of coverage plans and certain employment characteristics (self-employment, unemployment, temporary and part-time employment).
While the problem isn't new, one solution is. Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn, New York recently has initiated an Artist Access program, allowing artists to exchange cultural services for health care credits. [Click here to read full post.]
